Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Has anyone ever tried to use a lap steel 6-pole Horsie PUP in a Ric Bass....AS-IS ?

I'm wondering if there is enough of a magnetic field where the six poles actually track all four strings without dropouts....sort of like a blade pickup does?

Or are those older pickups not high output enough to do that?

Don't know about the lap-steel Horsie pickup specifically, but as far as I know, ALL the Toaster-top pickups are six pole and they seem to work fine on basses.

There have been numerous people who have put lap steel HS pickups in basses...

So long as the bobbin is not too tall (and foul up the string clearance) it will make a sound, it just may be tricky to get the string volume balance even..

If it fits give it a go...

Eden.

Some people have even put guitar higains in 4001's and 4003s with good results. Traditional P and J bass pickups have 8 poles.

There's a guy here on the forum--Mark Walker. He does/has done 6 to 4 pole conversions on lap steel horsehoe pickups.

Send him a PM. He might do it for you.

I appreciate the replies.....yes, I have seen the conversions of the lap steel pickups to actual 4 pole bass PUPs.

I was wondering if they convert them to four pole more for "correctness" and aesthetics...and if they might actually be
strong enough to just use as-is with the 6 or 8 poles?

Actually, that is my other question....do horsie PUPs from 8-string lap steels
have 8 poles or did Ric just use regular 6 pole pickups in them?

Too bad Ric didn't invent magnetic clear plexiglass/lucite to use on horses, so we could actually see what was going on UNDER them.

mc2NY wrote:Too bad Ric didn't invent magnetic clear plexiglass/lucite to use on horses, so we could actually see what was going on UNDER them.

There is a guy working on something similar to what you're proposing here, just not with plastics; I think he is using some sort of alloy. IIRC his name is Montgomery Scott (no relation, that I know of as yet).

jps wrote:

mc2NY wrote:Too bad Ric didn't invent magnetic clear plexiglass/lucite to use on horses, so we could actually see what was going on UNDER them.

There is a guy working on something similar to what you're proposing here, just not with plastics; I think he is using some sort of alloy. IIRC his name is Montgomery Scott (no relation, that I know of as yet).

This sounds intriguing. However, there's also a certain Montgomery Scott who's famous for things being "beyond the realms of physics Captain", or even, "the engines canae take it, Captain!"

Ash

mc2NY wrote: Actually, that is my other question....do horsie PUPs from 8-string lap steels
have 8 poles or did Ric just use regular 6 pole pickups in them?

I don't have any good pictures that show the poles, but my 8 string pickups have 8 poles and the 10 string has 10 poles...

Ashgray wrote:

jps wrote:

mc2NY wrote:Too bad Ric didn't invent magnetic clear plexiglass/lucite to use on horses, so we could actually see what was going on UNDER them.

There is a guy working on something similar to what you're proposing here, just not with plastics; I think he is using some sort of alloy. IIRC his name is Montgomery Scott (no relation, that I know of as yet).

This sounds intriguing. However, there's also a certain Montgomery Scott who's famous for things being "beyond the realms of physics Captain", or even, "the engines canae take it, Captain!"

Ash

I do believe the guy I am talking about works on some sort of ship (or will at some time in the future)...........